In 2016, Neva, (a.k.a. the "Beast", "Chipmunk") started college and is enjoying figuring out what she'd like to do next in life. Cori, (a.k.a. "the editor") bought her own home and enjoys raising her own garden in the near zero waste home she bought in South Jersey. C.J. (a.k.a. "Brother Chip") is currently teaching English as a second language in Japan after spending a year doing the same in South Korea. Jay (a.k.a. "Frankenbutt" and "Papa Chip") and I (a.k.a. "Butterball" and "Mama Chip") have taken up Tandem Bicycle riding and hosted a tour in New Zealand in January, 2016. We plan to return and host a tour of the southern part of the South Island of NZ in January, 2018.

Many have asked, "What's next?" and although we have several ideas, we haven't chosen our next adventure yet ... stay tuned!

A little background ... In 2011, we bicycled 3842 miles around the Eastern part of the U.S., visiting tracks and promoting our beloved sport of BMX and cycling. In the fall of 2012, our daughter, Neva (now 14 years old) dreamed up an adventure of her own: to become the youngest solo thru hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Although the parenting part of us didn't embrace the idea at first, our adventurous side was intrigued. Together we researched the best way to go about keeping her safe and healthy while she pursues her quest. After a lot of research, we bought her the best gear we could afford: an Osprey Ariel 55 backpack, an inline Sawyer water filter, hiking boots and lots of seasonal clothing options. Neva did her part to prepare for the hike by working extra hours and completing her home schooling curriculum months early; she also hiked 10-14 miles a day 4 times a week. Ultimately, we left our jobs and home behind, loaded up our truck camper and arrived at Springer Mountain in Georgia (the northbound entry to the Appalachian Trail) on April 1, 2013. With a blend of excitement and fear, we watched our 14 year old daughter disappear into the woods. On a daily basis, we track her on her SPOT GPS Satellite device and meet up with her at designated trail gaps. Although she spends most nights in the camper with us, she carries a full pack including tent, sleeping bag, change of clothes, 2 days' of food and water, first aid kit, etc. In her first month on the trail, we kept her quest mostly quiet, sharing her situation with only friends and family via email. After her first month of hiking, it was clear to us and her fellow hikers that she may well have in her what only 25% of those who start the trail have: the ability to hike thru 2180 miles to Katahdin Mountain in Maine, the northern terminus of the AT. We will be blogging virtually daily about her adventure and you can access those updates by clicking on the tab at the top of this page labeled "14 year old Chipmunk's Solo Appalachian Trail Thru Hike Quest". You can also subscribe to the RSS feed which will alert you when updates are posted. If you'd like to send a personal message to "Chipmunk", her official AT hike trail name, email openlymountaingoat@gmail.com. Her twitter handle is @openlymtngoat.

Our Instagram Account, Ridethenation:

Thank you to all our sponsors:

Thanks to Track Director Art Heinrichs and his amazing team at Tampa BMX for supporting our dream and helping us make it real! Visit www.tampabmx.com.

The ONLY BMX Superstore in Florida!

Thank you to J&R Bicycles for their support. Visit them online at www.jrbicycles.com or at their BMX superstore located in Largo, FL on Bryan Dairy Road.

(This is just the beginning, DON'T FORGET TO READ THE BLOG about our EPIC Bicycle ride!)

Two fat forty somethings and their moody 12 year old BMXer got a wild idea to ride bikes from Florida to Kentucky, following the NBL's (National Bicycle League) race circuit from April to September. Inspired by Annie Londonderry (google it!) and recovering from a financial smackdown (who isn't?), the wild idea grew into a dream and then a plan.

Here's the plan: on April 20, 2011 we'll leave our house, cars and most of the comforts of home behind and take up a two wheeled "camp as you go" lifestyle for 4+ months. We'll outfit 3 second hand bikes with what we think we'll need for this adventure ... all on a shoestring budget, nonetheless. In addition, we'll tow our daughter's 20" race bike, gear and bring another member of the family: Coco, a 20 lb. French Bulldog. We'll pedal our way to NBL BMX (Bicycle Motocross) races in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and finally to the Grand National Championship in Louisville, KY on Labor Day Weekend. Between now and then, we'll keep you posted on our preparations, our purchases and our reality checks. We'll test and tweak equipment, mull over food options and decide what goes into the panniers and what gets left behind. We'll discuss managing 4+ months away from work (YES!) and how we'll pay for this adventure. If this works out, maybe some day, we'll ride the whole nation!

About Us ...

First, we are not usually long distance bike riders. The 12 year old typically rides a quarter mile or less at a time during her BMX races and occasionally joins us on a 10-15 mile family bike ride. During this trip we’ll need to ride our bikes 5-7 days a week and some times average 50-60 miles per day … for over 4 months! THAT’S SCARY! And yet very enticing, too! We seldom rode bikes for the first 5-6 years of our marriage while we built a terrific event business and raised 3 kids, 2 of whom are in college now. We started to enjoy all the trappings of our success: big house, nice cars, dinners out and luxurious vacations. One day our 4 year old daughter announced she’d like to try BMX, like she’d seen on the X-Games. We joined the National Bicycle League in 2002 and traveled to state, regional and national bike races. We really loved seeing so much of the country and truly felt at home amongst fellow BMX families. Like many, the economy took a real bite out of our lifestyle. After closing our once thriving event business in 2008, we were pretty bruised. In BMX terms, we felt like we’d been run up in the berm; that we’d lost our momentum in this race called life. In the past 3 years, we’ve rediscovered the resourceful spirit that led to our prosperity and which prosperity had slowly overshadowed. Surprisingly, we now really enjoy the creativity that necessity demands. We found that we have what it takes to not only survive but to thrive, even when it seems hopeless. Who’d have thought that such controversy would give us the lifelong gift of self-assurance? Our experiences have changed us. We now resolve not to let our failures or doubts define us but rather the strength that came from overcoming them. Not one of us is truly certain we can complete this bike ride. However, we are certain that we won’t finish unless we start.

Purpose Of Our EPIC Bicycle Ride

Besides the fulfillment we expect to get from this adventure, we really hope our ride accomplishes 3 goals: 1) to acquaint more families with BMX, an Olympic sport that is fun, flexible, affordable and truly family friendly2) to inspire occasional riders to bike more often; to consider biking to work, the store, or even on vacation and3) to remind everyone that life is what you make it and that sometimes 2 wheels are better than 4!